Abstract
Crystal (2000:19-24) contends that there are etiological signs that foretell of the demise of a language into moribundity. These signs can be subdivided into functional and structural categories. The former are better understood than the latter. For instance, we know virtually nothing about the frequency distribution of vowels of moribund languages. We also know very little about the acoustic properties of vowels of such languages. The present study aims at answering these questions by examining the vowel system of Betine (639-eot), a critically endangered language of Côte d'Ivoire. The Dispersion-Focalization Theory (DFT) is applied to shed light on its vowels. The goal behind this endeavor is to provide acoustic phonetic data so that Betine can be revitalized thorough speech synthesis.
Recommended Citation
Koffi, Ettien and Quankenboss, Henry
(2025)
"THE ACOUSTIC VOWEL SPACE OF BETINE: A CRITICALLY ENDANGERED LANGUAGE,"
Linguistic Portfolios: Vol. 14, Article 11.
Available at:
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/stcloud_ling/vol14/iss1/11
